Chapter Text
Lando Norris was about to be a senior in college and he should honestly have more to show for it.
Sure, he’s on track to graduate with honors for his communications degree, but that’s not what matters, considering he probably won’t actually have to use it anytime soon.
His main focus has always been his streaming career. He started his account, gamingwl4ndo, when he was eighteen years old. The last three years have been kind to him, his follower count steadily going up until he boasted enough viewers to be able to fully support himself through college, and then some.
The issue at hand has nothing to do with his career or his academics. There’s only a couple weeks left of the summer break and Lando still has not found a viable roommate to fill the empty bedroom in his apartment.
He has loads of friends. Some, he’s incredibly close with, others are more like acquaintances. There’s a long list of people that he would be more than happy sharing his space with. However, Lando had forgotten when he reached out to his friend group last year that all of his friends are broke college students, just like he would’ve been if he didn’t have streaming to support himself.
The average college student cannot afford to pay half of the $4000 a month rent. He feels a bit silly having believed it would’ve been easy to find another student to move in with him.
He thinks back to his previous roommates. Every year, he had a different one. Lando would like to chalk it up to coincidence that he never found a roommate that stuck. He can’t be that difficult to live with.
Freshman year, he was matched with a random person that he ultimately did not click with. They navigated dorm life as entirely separate entities. Lando liked to stay up late, either going out or streaming. His roommate liked to go to bed early and wake up even earlier. Lando ended up setting up a makeshift streaming room in one of the lounges in order to not bother him each night.
The year after, he and one of his friends from his classes chose to room together in one of the nicer dorms. Their dynamic was way better. His roommate liked to go out and game just as much as he does, and he even featured in Lando’s stream a few times. It was all going swimmingly, until his followers started shipping them together. That put a bit of a strain on their friendship once his roommate caught wind of it. He never would’ve said it out loud, but it definitely made him a bit uncomfortable.
That friend chose to move into a frat house for their junior year, leaving Lando to find another random person to move into an off-campus apartment with. He still keeps in touch with him from time to time, but it’s a bit hit or miss when Lando goes out to the frats. As a gay man, he can never be too sure if the frat boys are making fun of him or not.
The guy he ended up moving in with worked out great at the start. He was a trust fund baby, so after they met each other at a coffee shop to see if they would be a good fit as roommates, the guy insisted on touring nothing less than a luxury apartment.
What started as a convenient living situation between two people who could afford a nice apartment turned into a situationship of sorts. He was the typical “straight” guy that sometimes messed around with other men when he was drunk. It was fine enough for Lando, aware that they could never be something more. But then, one night, Lando was bored and horny, and he tried to initiate something when they were both sober.
That didn’t go over well. His roommate totally flipped out on him, telling him he’s not gay, like it’s some kind of disease. Within a week, the guy had a girlfriend. Within a month, the guy told Lando he would not be renewing their lease for the next year, as he is moving in with his girlfriend of one month.
And that was all well and fine, except for the fact that Lando had already resigned the lease.
He loves his apartment and he doesn’t want to give it up. Nevermind the fact that if he does, he won’t get his security deposit back. It wouldn’t be that large of a hit for Lando’s bank account to lose the $2000 he put down, he just doesn’t want to give in that easily. So what if he’s a little scorned by his past roommate, he’s not going to lose his home because of it.
The apartment is large and spacious; two bedrooms, one bathroom. He insisted on being the one to pay for utilities so he could have the larger bedroom to have more space for his streaming setup. The building is newly renovated, with a large balcony and an updated kitchen with an island. The spare bedroom is already fully furnished, his roommate having picked up and left with no regard for the stuff he’s leaving behind.
This all leads him to the here and now, coming back from summer break two weeks early so he can put flyers up around the campus, looking for another roommate. The building mostly consists of London’s youngest and most successful finance bros, a handful of rich college students thrown in the mix. He can’t really afford to be picky, but he really wants his roommate to be another student so they can keep each other accountable. He’s never been the best at prioritizing his schoolwork.
His flyers get quite a few bites, and to his lack of luck, it’s no one who’s actually normal. Lando has a pretty high tolerance for weirdos, but the people he’s met with are more than he can handle.
He thought he found someone good enough with the first guy he met up with, and was just about to offer him the room when the guy told him that he has a pet tarantula that he likes to let out of the cage and roam around “for exercise.” Absolutely fucking not.
The next guy also seemed fine, until he revealed at the last minute that he was not actually a student and rather a barista at the on-campus coffee shop. Nothing wrong with that, but he said he would only be able to pay about one quarter of his half of the rent.
The guy after that somehow ended up being a superfan of Lando’s stream, practically shaking in his seat when Lando met him out at a local pub. Lando didn’t even know he had superfans. He doesn’t need a clout chasing roommate. He did sleep with him, though. Lando’s always been generous towards his fans.
The last guy, Lando got all wrong. They were getting along really well, chatting about their interests in Lando’s living room. He seemed super posh; gelled back hair, boat shoes, pink polo with the collar popped. Lando likes to think he has a pretty good gaydar, so when he said “I’m gay too, by the way,” he didn’t realize he was making a big mistake.
The posh boy’s demeanor changed in an instant, scoffing at him for assuming he was gay and promptly walking out the door.
—
Lando’s just about to give up on finding another roommate and paying the $4000 rent himself each month. It’s not like he can’t afford it. More than anything, he wants a roommate he can actually be friends with. He just doesn’t want to be lonely.
Four days before the semester starts, that’s when he gets the text.
Hey Lando! My name is Oscar. I just transferred to the university as an incoming junior and I’m looking for housing. I’m good for the $2000 a month. Are you still looking for a roommate?
Lando invites him over that afternoon and prays to the apartment gods that this is finally the one.
Oscar knocks on his door not one minute later than the time they designated to meet. Lando spent the entire morning deep cleaning his already clean apartment, going as far as setting out a vase of flowers on the kitchen island and setting out snacks and drinks on the coffee table in the living room.
Now, Lando’s not blind, so when he opens the door to let Oscar in, the first thing he notices is that Oscar is quite pretty.
He’s got golden hair and soft brown eyes, dressed up in an all black sweatsuit. Nothing about him really screams wealthy, but Oscar said he was good for his half of the rent, so Lando chooses to believe him.
“Hello Oscar!” Lando greets, maybe a little too enthusiastically. “Come in, come in.”
Oscar giggles as he steps inside, sticking his hand out for Lando to shake. “Hi Lando. It’s nice to meet you,” he smiles. Lando leads him into the living room and they settle on two sides of the couch. He watches as Oscar looks around appreciatively. “This is a really nice place.”
For some reason, Lando gets embarrassed, like Oscar somehow knows that Lando spent the better half of the day making his space and himself presentable for him. “Thanks. So, you’re looking for a place to live?”
“Yeah, I just moved here from Australia. I always wanted to live in London, that’s why I transferred.”
Lando knew he was catching onto some kind of foreign accent. “Ahhh, down unda,” Lando attempts to copy his accent, internally cringing at himself when he realizes that could come off as mocking, yet Oscar just keeps on smiling at him. “What are you studying?”
“Engineering. What about you?”
“I’m in my senior year for a communications major. I do have to tell you that I’m kinda a popular streamer, so I’m up pretty late most nights. The bedrooms share a wall, and I try to keep quiet, but you might hear a few screams when I’m having a strop over it.”
Oscar laughs. Luckily, he doesn’t seem put off by Lando’s chosen profession. “Makes sense. You have like every gaming console ever released.” He points over to the TV, where there’s an Xbox, Playstation, Switch, plus their older versions stacked underneath.
“Do you game?” Lando asks excitedly.
“I do,” Oscar confirms.
“Would you ever wanna be on it?” Lando asks against his better judgment. He doesn’t let just anyone on his stream. He has a feeling people would like the looks of Oscar.
“Maybe,” Oscar squeaks, taken by surprise. “Are there a lot of people watching?” he asks innocently.
Lando doesn’t want to boast how many viewers he gets per stream. “Let’s just say, if we ever go out together, sometimes I get stopped once or twice. Not all the time. Would you mind that?”
“I don’t care about that,” Oscar states simply. “Better you than me,” he mutters under his breath.
“What was that?” Lando asks, not sure if he misheard.
Oscar shakes his head. “Nothing. I’m just not big on attention when I go out.”
Lando wonders why that is. Oscar’s so goodlooking, tall and broad and seemingly very kind, that he’s sure he lights up every room he walks into. Why would a man like that ever want to avoid attention?
He drops that thought before he thinks himself into a spiral about his own constant need for eyes to be on him. Instead, Lando gives Oscar a tour of the place. Oscar has a smile on his face the entire time, and by the time they sit back down on the couch, Oscar is telling him that he’d “love to live here, if you’ll have me.”
And, of course Lando would have him. But there’s one thing he feels like he should mention if Oscar is going to move in.
“Of course you can move in! I should tell you though, I’m gay. Hopefully that isn’t a problem?”
Oscar’s eyes soften. Maybe it’s more obvious than Lando thought that he’s been put into awkward situations in the past because of it.
“Not a problem at all. I’m open,” Oscar replies.
Lando can’t tell if Oscar saying that he’s open means that he’s accepting of other’s sexualities or if he is open about his sexuality himself. He doesn’t want to pry just yet.
They say their goodbyes soon after, trading contact info. Oscar’s officially set to move in the next day, and right after he leaves, he sends Lando $2000 for this month's rent.
—
The next day, Oscar comes over bright and early to start moving in.
Lando’s barely awake, having spent the entire night streaming, riding a high over finally finding a roommate.
He did a duel stream with his childhood best friend, Max, who is also a streamer. Max is also a student at the university, and Lando initially wanted to move in with him. It would’ve worked out perfectly. They both make a steady income and already know absolutely everything about each other.
However, Max lives with his girlfriend. He had graciously offered for Lando to use their spare bedroom if he ended up losing his apartment and needed to look for another place. Lando vehemently refused. It’s not like he doesn’t like Max’s girlfriend, but it’s always been a point of contention between the two.
Lando started to feel a little left out once the majority of Max’s time went to hanging out with his girlfriend. Max could never understand why Lando never went out to find a relationship of his own.
He’s always said that he’s picky, that’s why he never formally dated anyone throughout college. If Lando lets himself really think about it, he can recognize that’s not totally the reason. He’s afraid of letting someone in, inevitably getting hurt. Besides, his friendships and hookups have always been enough to fulfill him.
After a few rounds of Fortnite, Lando brought it up on stream.
“I forgot to tell you, Max. And everyone else here. I found a new roommate today, he’s moving in tomorrow.”
The messages coming in from the chat rapidly pick up speed, asking loads of questions about who this new guy is. Lando can see the name of his sophomore year roommate brought up multiple times, people asking if it’s going to be another person they can ship him with. He ignores them.
“That’s great!” Max says. “What’s he like? When do we get to meet him?”
“Don’t know much about him yet, mate. All I know is that he just moved here from Australia. I’ll invite him out with us soon.”
From there, the topic is dropped and they focus on gaming. Everytime he looks down at the chat, his viewers are still discussing the new roommate.
Lando shoots out of bed in the morning when he hears the knocking at his front door. He has a really good feeling about Oscar.
He pulls on some clothes to let Oscar in, half asleep while asking if he needs help bringing boxes in, which Oscar declines. Lando isn’t going to start off their relationship being a deadbeat roommate, so he follows Oscar down to the carpark and insists on helping carry boxes up.
Oscar’s things are shoved into the back of his, admittedly, very fancy sportscar. Lando wonders just how rich his new roommate is.
Some of the boxes seem pretty beat up, clearly having been thrown around in transit from Australia. The heavy box in his hands comes apart at the seams right as Lando steps through the door, having to set it down on the floor in order for none of the contents to come crashing out of it.
He doesn’t mean to snoop, but the box is quite literally falling apart, so he can’t help but to notice what’s inside of it. It’s a load of photography equipment. Cameras, tripods, ringlights. Curiosity gets the best of him, so when Oscar comes in behind him, he asks about it.
“Why do you have so much photography gear?” he asks.
“I’m a photography major,” Oscar answers.
That makes Lando pause. “I thought you said you’re studying engineering?"
Oscar doesn’t miss a beat before saying “double major” as he walks away to his room. Lando doesn’t quite believe him, but he drops it.
—
For the rest of the day, Lando busies himself by clearing out some space in the kitchen and bathroom for Oscar’s things. Oscar keeps to himself for the most part, unpacking boxes in his room.
Lando spends his free time in his own room, stalking Oscar’s socials. They went down to the building manager’s office earlier, so Oscar could add his name to the lease. Now that Lando has his last name, he’s able to do the sleuthing he’s been itching to do since yesterday.
His Instagram isn’t all that interesting, the profile public and only followed by a few hundred people. Some artsy photos of the beach and the city of Melbourne, makes sense for someone interested in photography. In between, there’s shots of him out with his friends, smiling dopily at the camera. He’s the exact type of guy Lando has pinned him for, simple and sweet.
A quick google search of his name makes way to his dad, a rich guy who started some kind of automotive company. That explains how he can afford a place like this. Besides articles of his dad’s accomplishments, there’s not much about him on the internet. Only a few websites about his athletics stats in high school.
When he hears Oscar emerge from his room into the kitchen, he gets up to go check in on him. Oscar’s standing by the counter, unloading some of his dishes into the cabinet.
“How’s it going?’ he asks as he lifts himself up on the island. Lando can’t help but sound giddy, he’s missed having a person to hang out with and talk to in the comfort of his own home.
Oscar turns towards him with a smile, and Lando thinks that his new roommate looks like he belongs here. “It’s going well, I’m almost done.”
“Perfect! Not sure if you drink, but I have a bottle of champagne in the fridge I was thinking we could pop to celebrate. We could order pizza and play games?”
“That works for me, lemme just finish up.”
Lando orders way too much food for two people and sets up Mario Kart on the switch while Oscar finishes the last of his unpacking.
Things are going really well. In between eating, drinking, and playing video games, they get to know much more about each other. They speak about their friends and families, their goals in life.
Lando doesn’t want Oscar to feel like he’s being interrogated, but there’s so many things he wants to know.
“What type of roommate are you? Do you mostly keep to yourself?” he asks. He wants to know right off the bat if his constant need for stimulation is going to be a bother.
“I don’t really know,” Oscar replies. “I’ve never had a roommate before.”
“Really? Where did you live when you went to school in Melbourne?” Lando hopes that Oscar doesn’t pick up on the fact that he never explicitly said he went to school in Melbourne. Lando had picked that up from his online stalking.
“I lived at home for the first year, lived by myself for the second.” Lando wants to ask why Oscar didn’t choose to live alone now, if he has the means to afford this place, he could’ve found a one bedroom apartment for less. He doesn’t have to ask, Oscar answering the question unprompted. “I don’t know anyone in London, I thought having a roommate would do me some good.”
To Lando, that sounds like a promise. Like Oscar genuinely wants to be friends. Or maybe something more, his stupid brain adds on.
Once the bottle is almost drained, Lando asks the one question he’s been really curious about.
“How can you afford this place? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Oscar stiffens for about half a second, relaxing before answering. “My dad’s a photographer and I take a few gigs in my free time. That’s why I have all those cameras.”
Lando’s not the best at biting his tongue, forcing himself to for once. He just read a bunch of articles about what his dad does for a living. He decides to give Oscar the benefit of the doubt, he supposes his dad could be a photographer on the side.